{"product_id":"9781421408323","title":"Nightmare Alley: Film Noir and the American Dream","description":"\u003cp\u003eDesperate young lovers on the lam (\u003ci\u003eThey Live by Night\u003c\/i\u003e), a cynical con man making a fortune as a mentalist (\u003ci\u003eNightmare Alley\u003c\/i\u003e), a penniless pregnant girl mistaken for a wealthy heiress (\u003ci\u003eNo Man of Her Own\u003c\/i\u003e), a wounded veteran who has forgotten his own name (\u003ci\u003eSomewhere in the Night\u003c\/i\u003e)—this gallery of film noir characters challenges the stereotypes of the wise-cracking detective and the alluring femme fatale. Despite their differences, they all have something in common: a belief in self-reinvention. \u003ci\u003eNightmare Alley\u003c\/i\u003e is a thorough examination of how film noir disputes this notion at the heart of the American Dream.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCentral to many of these films, Mark Osteen argues, is the story of an individual trying, by dint of hard work or, more often, illicit enterprises, to overcome his or her origins and achieve material success. In the wake of World War II, the noir genre tested the dream of upward mobility and the ideas of individualism, liberty, equality, and free enterprise that accompany it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEmploying an impressive array of theoretical perspectives (including psychoanalysis, art history, feminism, and music theory) and combining close reading with original primary source research, \u003ci\u003eNightmare Alley\u003c\/i\u003e proves both the diversity of classic noir and its potency. This provocative and wide-ranging study revises and refreshes our understanding of noir's characters, themes, and cultural significance.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Johns Hopkins University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47121941201136,"sku":"9781421408323","price":32.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781421408323_p0.jpg?v=1769898912","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781421408323","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}